Forbidden Apple Part 3: Gay Pride
by ImagineI
Summary: The continuance of the Forbidden Apple series. Please read prequels before this one. A story of romantic revolution, growing up, backing down and just accepting what's what. Oh and lemons. Rated T, eventual M. Read and Review!
1. In Which Misaki Revolts

The start of a new Romantica fanfiction. Please read and review, I'd love to hear what you think ^.^ This will turn into a fiction of at least twenty five chapters.

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><p><span>'In Which Misaki Revolts'<span>

"I'm straight."

It took a good minute or so for the words to truly affect Akihiko. In a flash, there were images of Misaki moaning in his arms, their sweat stroking together, their tongues and lips, their entire _bodies_ entwined in agonised pleasure… Akihiko _in_ Misaki, sucking Misaki…

Akihiko swallowed.

Other images, softer and yet somehow lovlier, filtered into his now corybantic mind. The both of them on the sofa in the tangerine rays of the dying sun, laughing together about some stupid idiot on TV. Their simultaneous disgust with a new recipe Misaki had tried. Going shopping together… Hell, even the time Misaki broke his arm and Akihiko had _just_ helped him wash in the shower. He hadn't made any inappropriate moves on him or anything… well, not until much later. That had to count for something.

Akihiko almost sensed the ghosts of their former selves on the sofa to his right as he stood frozen on the spot. He risked laughing, felt the hint of a smile touch his lips…

But Misaki looked so deadly serious. There had not been any tone of maliciousness or jest in his voice. No denial in there either.

Just basic, brutal honesty.

"When… When did you work this out?" Akihiko managed to say, quiet and low as he stared down at the polished floor by Misaki's feet. He noticed the boy had his sneakers on…

"Last night," Misaki replied instantly. Akihiko looked up at him, trying to provoke a quaver of uncertainty in the boy. But Misaki held firm. "It came to me."

"After, during or before we fucked?" Akihiko asked, not willing to sieve the spite out of his voice. He watched Misaki flinch and blush and got a warped sort of kick out of it. In that moment, he saw too that Misaki had his coat on…

"A-After," Misaki said.

"I see…" Akihiko muttered, sliding his glasses off and polishing the lenses on his purple sweater. He didn't say anything more. For more than two minutes, both men stood there, silent and unyielding. Several times, Akihiko heard Misaki take a breath and then choke on his words, but he remained polishing his glasses.

And then the sound of the door banging shut… the elevator doors pinging open from the hallway… the elevator doors hushing shut…

Akihiko stopped polishing his glasses.

But did nothing else.

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><p>Please review ^.^<p> 


	2. In Which It Dawns On Akihiko

Chapter 2, people : ) Please read and review, I really hope you enjoy!

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><p><span>'In Which It Dawns On Akihiko'<span>

He remained there for at least an hour. Half of that time was spent sitting on the sofa, where he had sort of fallen in shock, both with Misaki and himself.

He must have seen this coming. That was why he wasn't firing up his sportscar and hurtling after Misaki, grabbing his punkass jacket and launching him into the trunk. How _dare_ he say something like that to him!

"I'm not gay," Akihiko whispered to himself, repeating the words and trying to find some edge of truth in them. After saying those three words no short of two dozen times, they still sounded foreign to him.

But in a sense… it_ did_ make sense. Misaki had never initiated any of their homosexual acts, had always submitted and allowed Akihiko to pummel him into blissful oblivion. But he had kissed him back on countless occasions, had held fast onto his shirt or dug his nails into his back in the throes of passionate nights…

He'd run to _him_ when Takahiro had come to them months ago and demanded Misaki return with him to America. He'd made Akihiko's dinners for two years now, had rubbed his shoulders when he was exhausted from a new term in writing. He'd kept Aikawa at bay…

He'd stayed with him, even after that… incident… with Tasaki and Ousari. Somehow, in the coiled tragedy that was his current life, Misaki had stayed with him; washed his laundry; shared his bed; accepted his fascination with oversized bears.

He had a wife…

Akihiko gulped and loosened his tie. His mouth was unintentionally agape and his eyes still blank with shock. Somehow he'd been stupid enough to believe that Misaki would stay with him forever...

They'd dealt with the police together after Ousari had killed Tasaki and had somehow managed to cover up a murder. A cold shiver of sweat still formed on Akihiko's back at that thought. Misaki had always helped with the paranoia…

"_Akihiko, you did a good thing… ok, so maybe it would have been better if we told the truth; after all, it was self-defence! None of us knew who Tasaki was gonna shoot! You've saved a woman's life. Heck… you saved all our butts!_"

Misaki's words echoed in Akihiko's mind as he recalled an afternoon about two weeks ago.

Akihiko had been sitting in this very spot and Misaki had- uncharacteristically- wrapped his arms around Akihiko's shoulders from behind and soothed him with his words… whilst their miso soup was heating up in the microwave… they'd made fun of _Japan's Got Talent_ that night… had fallen asleep in the spoon position… the next morning, Misaki had taken Suzuki-san with him to school so he could drop him off at the drycleaners… Akihiko had written all of the next day… then Misaki had come home, they'd made love, they ate, watched a film… Akihiko had taught him some English…

"Usami-sensei? Why are you crying?"

_Bastard kid has me crying for the third time in my life_, Akihiko thought to himself. He didn't budge from his seat, not even at Aikawa's words. He'd barely heard her come into the apartment.

Akihiko clenched his jaw and canted his head to look up at the redheaded woman who'd intruded on his wallowing. He sniffed once then stood up and walked to the kitchen, as though nothing in the world was the matter. He grabbed two beers from the fridge and threw one at Aikawa. She caught it without a problem but stared at him with concern.

"Usam-"

"Misaki left," Akihiko said plainly, cracking the cap of the beer open with his back teeth and then sinking back down into the sofa. He didn't let an awkward silence pass. "So- I'm planning a fuck in the cruise room and then they go to Paris? What do you think?"

Aikawa blinked and sat opposite Akihiko. She knocked the neck of her beer against the table between them and the cap flew into her ready hand. She took a swig and clinked her bottle against Akihiko's.

"Kampai," he muttered, taking a long swig. Aikawa didn't say anything, just watched the man hunch over, smiling at her, trying do desperately to keep a brave face.

She caught him around the shoulders and sat right down next to him, rocking him from side to side as he wept five minutes later, suddenly halfway through talking about a new plotline. She'd been ready. He shook with sobs for two straight hours.

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><p>Please review ^.^<p> 


	3. In Which Misaki Begins

Chapter Threeee ^.^

Misaki: God, are you like obsessed with us or something?

Uhuh *Fangirl smile*

Akihiko: Aww, she's sweet... can we keep her as a pet?

Misaki: No.

Guys, stop! You're pissed with eachother at the moment, alright!

Akihiko: What's in this fakery for us?

I'll let you bang the brat at least two times.

Akihiko: Deal *covers Misaki's mouth*

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><p><span>'In Which Misaki Begins'<span>

It was ridiculous that he felt so torn up about it, really… wasn't it?

It was so obvious he wasn't gay. He squirmed out of Akihiko's hold any time he came near him, flinched when Akihiko slightly breathed around him. Wasn't it the right thing to do? Wasn't leaving the _kinder_ thing to do?

Misaki was sure of it… at least, he was sort of sure he was sure about it… wasn't he?

Misaki gulped and fell into a nearby park bench. His rucksack settled down next to him. He held his head in his heads and imagined how much easier his life would be if he'd just taken that flight with Takahiro two years ago.

_Two_ years. For two whole years, he'd kept up with the farce that he was in love with Akihiko. That was seven hundred and thirty days of lying to both himself and the man who had claimed love for him after a month of their relationship.

Misaki scratched his nails through his hair and shut his eyes, remembering a blue-lit night in Akihiko's room. The both of them were curled up around one another: Akihiko had wrapped Misaki to his chest around his waist and shoulders and Misaki had put his ankles over Akihiko's, his hands around Akihiko's neck. Misaki tried to rationalise this in his head, tried to tell himself that he had simply been so consumed with exhaustion, he'd acted like that because of his fevered fatigue…

But no, not even his own brain would let him get away with that one.

_Okay… so… I liked the guy a lot… but… this is better for me. I don't think I can survive that craziness for all my life. It was an experience, a teenage fancy, is all…_

Misaki jumped when his mobile started buzzing in his brown jacket pocket. He reached in and took it out, expecting to see Akihiko's name on the screen. But it was Sumi. Misaki took a deep breath and flipped the phone open.

"Hi?"

"Hey, Misaki. What time do you think you'll be round?"

"Um…" Misaki squinted in the sunlight coming through the large trees in front of him. A day in the park with Akihiko a year ago sparkled in his mind… he'd poured a whole bottle of water on him that day to cool him down, both with the heat of the sun and his randiness in public… it hadn't worked… they'd done it in the bushes…

"Misaki?"

"Oh! About an hour," Misaki replied, pulling his brown hair off his forehead.

"Okay, supper should be ready by then. Oh, can you pick up some salmon from the corner shop? The tinned one."

"Sure," Misaki warbled. He cleared his voice and repeated it, stronger. "Sure."

"Okay," Sumi mocked, donning an action-hero voice. Misaki fake laughed but Sumi seemed to believe it. "See you later." Misaki hung up and, hitting his forehead with the heels of his hands, tried to bang out of memory of the time Akihiko had called him and had forced him to play the game of guessing whether Akihiko was smiling or not… for twenty minutes.

"No!" Misaki growled to himself. He was going to start a new life… he had his reasons… he wouldn't think about them anymore.


	4. In Which They Mourn

'In Which They Mourn'

Akihiko

Akihiko stared into the mirror, trying to bring his reflection to life. Maybe, if he did that, his reflection could live his life for him. His reflection could at least shave and eat a decent meal, write a chapter, heck even just one sentence… the first sentence in a week.

He'd been standing in the bathroom for an hour now, naked aside from the towel around his waist. His torso was still toned but rakier… thinner. Without the nutrition of a Misaki-made-meal.

Grey stubble had appeared about his jaw and chin. His silvery hair hadn't been washed for a week and even now, wet and dripping into the sink, it looked dank and dirty. His violet eyes, too, were murkier than usual.

He recognised this face, had seen it millions of times before. This was the pre-Misaki face. The face seen in the mirror after a dodgy one-night-stand. The hangover face. The writer's block face, or the face that was depressed by his lack of new ideas. Somehow, Aikawa would accept anything with smut in it, even if it was the same sex scene just in a different location.

He'd started having ideas about a novel in which a man kills himself and comes back to life only to see his lover old and dying, alone… only to realise the dying lover is himself in a parallel universe… more drivel went on from there…

Akihiko glared at himself and raked his palm over his scratchy jaw, picking up the droopy cigarette that was on the sink in a makeshift, tin-foil ashtray. He took a drag, held it in and watched his red-rimmed eyes water as he began to choke… then spluttered and let the smoke blow out his reflection.

_Misaki could come back… wouldn't be good if I were dead when he did…_

In a trance, Akihiko left the bathroom, dropping the finished cigarette on the slate floor and padded down the hallway to Misaki's room. He closed his eyes and stepped inside.

In his mind, he could see Misaki sitting on his bed on his laptop, headphones in his tiny ears, the glare of the screen highlighting his sage green eyes… they always were a shade darker when he was working. He smiled to himself as he imagined the pins and clips in the boys hair… not gay? Pfft.

Akihiko opened his eyes.

The bed was stripped. Textbooks no longer filled the shelf on the left wall. He walked over to the white cupboard, not bothering to turn on the bedroom light. He opened the doors. Hangers swayed, empty like bare, wire bones.

He went to the drawers underneath the shelf and pulled them open like he had done every day since. Only a rubber had been left in a drawer and it hadn't been used. A train ticket stub had been left in another but it wasn't for a trip the both of them had taken together.

Akihiko walked back to the door and stood in the doorway, not even taking the time to appreciate the golden glow of the rising sun. He shut the door on the new day and slid down the back of it.

In the dark room, he took a deep breath. A breath of stale Misaki.

Misaki

There must have been something wrong with the water and the oven and the hob in Sumi's house, because nothing tasted right.

The water had a dusty aftertaste that made Misaki frown every time he took a sip. Rice, noodles, meat, fish, you name it: the saltiness seemed to have evaporated when cooked, the rice was too sticky and the noodles too dry.

"I don't know what you're on about," Sumi had said to Misaki after two weeks. Without Sumi's parents there, they'd managed to fend for themselves quite well.

"Huh," Misaki replied, draining the remaining juice from his cherry and ice cream desert. He sat opposite Sumi for a moment in silence, trying to think of some polite conversation… but failed. "I think I'm gonna go to bed."

"Oh really? There's a premiere of an action movie on TV tonight. Wanna watch?"

Misaki thought.

Ten minutes later, he was sitting in front of the TV, the bright light of it in the dark room hurting his eyes. But he didn't move. He'd rather be sitting here with Sumi, even if he was barely aware of him or the movie for that matter, than be lying in bed staring up at the ceiling.

Mind blank.

Bored.

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><p>Please review ^.^<p> 


	5. In Which Demands Are Made

Chapter Five ^.^

By the way guys, check this video out- AMAZING. Watch it all. .com/watch?v=fcv1NL_5Ic4&feature=fvsr (fanfiction stole the youtube bit at the beginning)

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><p><span>'In Which Demands Are Made'<span>

Misaki

"Sumi! Can I borrow one of your shirts?"

"Why?" Sumi called from the other end of the house.

"I ran out of clean ones! Come on... you know why I need it." There was silence as Misaki heard Sumi pad down the hallway and come into their shared room. Since coming here, Misaki had camped out on the floor in a roll-out mattress and sleeping bag. In return for staying here with Sumi, Misaki cleaned and cooked for them much as he had done so for-

_No. I'm not thinking of him, remember!_ Misaki berated himself.

"Ahh yes," Sumi said as he took a sip of water from the glass he held in his hand. He stood in the doorway and there was a sly look in his light brown eyes Misaki didn't appreciate. "The date. Are you nervous?"

_Nervous? Nervous that this is my first proper date in two years... that this is my first date with a girl! Yes, I'm fucking nervous._

About a month after he'd moved in with Sumi, a girl at school called Setsuna had come up to him after class. They'd got to talking... well, Misaki had listened as Setsuna told him all about herself as if she were applying for a job application.

She was a Scorpio. Her father owned some sort of organic tinned pineapple business and her mother was an air stewardess. She wanted to be an interpreter and go to Spain as soon as she finished her education. She didn't like manga but she did like anime, especially a certain one called 'The Kan'. This had grabbed Misaki's attention and they had spent all of lunch-time discussing the plain wonderfulness of it.

She was pretty, Misaki had realised, as they'd walked back to class. Her long black hair was jagged at the ends and the mascara she wore attractively enhanced her silvery, storm-grey eyes. She had one or two spots around her unplucked eyebrows and a few blackheads in the dips of her long nose but those flaws hardly detracted from her evident beauty. She was very slim, shockingly slimmer than Misaki but- as Misaki had realised with a blush when she had walked on ahead of him- her rear end was certainly on the plump side. She seemed to have a deep love for dark, skinny jeans and long sleeved shirts...

She was cute, Misaki had decided. He wanted this date- a trip to the movies- to be the one that started a new term in his romantic life and by all accounts _he was going to be attracted to her._

Akihiko

"Usami-sensei, this is so-so... saaaaaad!" Aikawa sobbed down the phone. Akihiko sighed and took a drag on his cigarette. He had a desperately strong urge to hang up on Aikawa right there and then but he owed her. Big time. She'd held him and let him sob into her shoulder and best of all: she hadn't mentioned it since.

"It's meant to be dramatic," Akihiko explained. "I didn't want the characters to be so happy the readers got bored."

"B-but... they were so haaaappyyyy!" Aikawa wailed. Akihiko pushed out the crease between his eyebrows with his middle and index fingers.

"Yeah, well..."

"Okay, it's been a month and a half since you've written a sex scene. Don't get me wrong, I'm loving the masturbation scenes, but still. Readers. Want. Intimacy. At least, your ones do."

"I don't care what they want."

"Usami-sensei, you _will_ write me a sex scene!" Aikawa screeched.

"Ouch, Aikawa!"

"I WILL MAKE YOU DEAF IF THAT MEANS I GET A HOT, SWEATY LOVE SCENE. YOU DON'T NEED YOUR EARS TO WRITE. IF I COULD HAVE IT MY WAY, YOU'D BE A MOUTH WITH HANDS AND EYES."

Akihiko blinked and sucked on his cigarette, adjusting his stained tie and giving his yellowing shirt a withering look.

"I'm not writing a-"

"I heard from Misaki the other day."

Bam. One word was all it took to shatter the reality he had managed to fabricate. Though everyday life was somewhat greyer, lack-luster and hazy with whisky and smoke, Akihiko had managed to heave himself out of bed. He wrote every day. That's all he did: smoke, drink, write, loo, write, drink, sleep, wake, drink, smoke, smoke, smoke, write, sleep. Somewhere in that routine, once a week, he would threaten the shower with his presence and wash himself the best he could, though he didn't bother scrubbing his face; his tears managed to trickle through the dirt.

"He's fine, by the way. The end of the term is coming up. I think he said something about going to America."

"Don't... are you... are you threatening me, Aikawa?" Akihiko asked, a stone sliding down his throat.

"How is that a threat? I thought you'd be interested in hearing how he is."

"H... How is he?"

"Are you going to write that sex scene?"

"Oh. Blackmail."

"I'm an agent and editor, Usami-sensei, not a saint."

"Shame- you'd look good with a halo."

Aikawa let out a dry laugh.

"Write that smut, Akihiko."

Akihiko sighed and dropped his head into the same hand that held his cigarette, just about avoiding singing his hair with the crumbling ash... the ash that reminded Akihiko of his life... his loveless, abandoned life, that-

"Akihiko!"

"Fine." And he hung up.


	6. In Which Misaki Is Pecked

'In Which Misaki Is Pecked '

Misaki

"Misaki-chaaaaan!" Setsuna squealed as she ran towards him. Misaki gulped and prepared to give Setsuna a hug as she came bounding towards him but the air was knocked out of his chest as she leapt up and wrapped her legs around his waist, pecking him all over the face.

"H-Hey, Setsuna," Misaki smiled, not sure where to put his hands. Setsuna grabbed them and placed them firmly on her buttocks. Misaki blushed. "Setsuna!"

"Oh, don't be such a prude!" She teased, putting the tip of her nose against his own. "I can't wait to meet your brother!"

"Err, yeah... there he is!" Misaki lied as an excuse to get Setsuna off him. He pointed ahead of him trying to be as excited as possible, but Setsuna wouldn't budge and Misaki's eyes fell. He kept a smile plastered on his face though. People passing them along the train platform gave them a mixture of adoring and freaked out looks.

"Don't lie to me, Misaki-chan. I _know_ when you're lying," Setsuna whispered, tapping the end of Misaki's nose.

"Ahahaha," Misaki laughed breathily. It had been two and a half months since their first date and- surprisingly- Misaki was having a good time with Setsuna, no matter her over-eager addiction to him. At midnight, he'd get texts with photos of her kissing a photograph of him. It made him tremble a bit but he replied with an 'aww xxx' no matter what. He was going to make this work.

"Misaki! Over here!" Misaki spun round with Setsuna still wrapped around him and spotted Takahiro and his wife, Manami walking towards them, both smiling.

_How are they always so happy?_ Misaki asked himself. Takahiro and Manami reached them half a minute later.

"Misaki, good to see you," Manami beamed.

"Misaki..."Takahiro said in a deadly tone. "I hate to tell you..."

Both Misaki and Setsuna widened their eyes in genuine fear as Takahiro's face darkened.

"YOU'VE GOT THE CUTEST GIRL IN THE WORLD ON YOUR JUMPER!"

Misaki blinked at Takahiro's exclamation and almost flinched as Setsuna began to laughed graciously. She slid off Misaki and made a polite bow to Takahiro and Manami.

"It's a pleasure to meet both of you."

"Misaki, aren't you going to introduce us?" Takahiro pressed. Misaki blinked.

"Err..."

_How did I get here? Last time I saw Takahiro he was yelling at... him. He somehow managed to hide the fact that we were together from Takahiro... that helped a lot. Yet... why do I feel so wrong introducing Setsuna to my own brother and sister-in-law?_

"Setsuna, this is my brother Takahashi Takahiro and his wife Takahashi Manami. Takahiro, this is Setsuna Yamamoto. Manami, this is Setsuna Yamamoto." Misaki's introductions acted as a commentary as each individual made their seperate bows. He felt so robotic he barely noticed when Takahiro pulled him into a tight hug. "Takahiro! Oxygen! Need..."

"Good to see you, brother. You look so much better than... well, last time I saw you."

"Oh... good."

"Are you still staying with Akihiko?" Takahiro asked as he released Misaki. There was a formal tone in his voice that scared Misaki slightly.

_Breathe. Don't choke. Simple. Heart: calm. Don't go into overdrive._

_"_He's..." Images of Akihiko's slanted purple eyes intent on him, his hands... his deep, soothing laugh... those adorable kisses he planted on Misaki's cheek when he'd had a hard day at the University...

"Misaki-chan?" Setsuna prodded him in the shoulder and Misaki sort of swayed to the side like a Jack-In-The-Box.

"He's fine... as far as I know." Misaki recalled the conversation he'd had with Aikawa a week ago. She'd sounded so bubbly it had taken a few minutes for him to realise that it wasn't his responsibility to guard Akihiko from her anymore. She seemed to know of their separation though as she had expressed her condolences at the end of the conversation... after she had ranted about how Akihiko hadn't written anything publishable in weeks. _Don't you dare be pissed off with Akihiko_, Misaki thought to himself. _He loved you so much and hid it for so long to protect your fucking ass!_

"Misaki-chan," Setsuna said, shaking him a little. "You're in a trance again."

"Ah. He's hungry," Takahiro explained, looping his arm through Misaki's and frogmarching him outside the station. Manami and Setsuna walked behind them, giggling and gossiping together.

_This could actually be the rest of my life_, Misaki thought.


	7. In Which Things Are Solidified

'In Which Things Are Solidified '

Akihiko

Akihiko was drunk. Messy, unfettered images of Misaki's warm, soft body married with his own were strewn across his mind and- in his crapulence- were also littered across the living room table. There were no photographs there, only stubbed out cigarettes and empty bottles of beer on their sides, threatening to roll and smash on the floor. But, truly, there he saw Misaki's agonised face mid-orgasm... there, somehow, was a photo of the _scent_ of Misaki when he came and fell into Akihiko so _fully_. In those seconds- and they really were just seconds that Akihiko got- Misaki submersed himself in Akihiko and seemed to hand over his soul in payment for the pleasure Akihiko brought him. That flop of his head onto Akihiko's shoulder, the struggling strokes of his quivering fingers as he tried to grip onto the man; that was Akihiko's gift. Little did Misaki know that it was love Akihiko had been giving him, not lust.

"Misa...Misa..." Akihiko tried to say the boy's name without crumpling over on himself. The silky flow of Misaki's hair tickled his palm and he jolted, looking down to see if Misaki really was there... but it was a scarf. Misaki's scarf. He'd left it behind... Akihiko had found it under Misaki's bed.

He put the scarf next to him on the sofa. Sitting there with it was the rubber and the train ticket stub. Three items, three solid objects proving Misaki really had been here. He'd been fumbling with them all night. To keep himself in the present. To keep himself alive.

Misaki

"So, your brother and his wife are leaving tomorrow?" Sumi asked as Misaki got through the door.

"Yup," Misaki replied, smiling. He dragged his bags in with him and slipped his shoes off, making a small bow to Sumi.

It had been a good two weeks. Setsuna, Takahiro, Manami and he had had a great time. Takahiro had rented an apartment for the time he'd been in Japan, so Misaki had moved in with him for the duration and of the fourteen days, Setsuna had spent nine with him and... well, his entire family. It had been fun.

They'd gone to two restaurants, an amusement park, the new IMAX cinema (where Setsuna had clutched Misaki's arm when the Tyrannosaurus Rex literally leaped out of the screen)... it had been great.

_Good. Fun. Great... SO WHY AREN'T YOU HAPPY, GODDAMMIT? _Misaki yelled at himself in his head.

"Headache?" Sumi asked as they both took Misaki's bags to their shared room.

"Huh?" Misaki replied.

"You're touching your head," Sumi informed. Misaki dropped his bags in his room and shook his head.

"It's just hot, I need some water," he laughed. Sumi yanked down the pully for the window screen and pointed drolly at the sheets of rain pelting against the window.

"It's like a tsunami out there."

"Don't joke about that stuff!" Misaki cried as they both walked to the kitchen, which was small and right next door to their room. Misaki felt claustrophobic here...

"Then maybe you have a fever," Sumi offered. In an instant, he had Misaki against the wall, his knee between Misaki's and a hand placed on his forehead. The taller adolescent leaned his face to an inch away from Misaki's. "You do feel hot..."

"S-Sumi-senpai! Please!" Misaki laughed, trying to push Sumi off. But Sumi would not budge. Instead, he inched closer and put both his hands just under Misaki's jaw.

"Just checking for mumps," he whispered, cocking his head to the side and smiling.

"Sumi, please! If Aki-" Misaki choked. Sumi smirked and raised his eyebrows.

"If who? Akihiko? It's been nearly three months, Misaki, why would he see us?"

"I meant Setsuna," Misaki whispered, staring wide-eyed over Sumi's shoulder. Sumi's limbs were more like roulette daggers jabbed around him than the comforting touches of a friend. "If Setsuna saw us, she'd kill me."

"I was just checking you weren't ill," Sumi smiled, backing off and striding into the kitchen. Misaki remained pressed against the wall, breathing shallowly.

Nearly three months? That was impossible. How had it gone by so fast? Misaki tried to pull himself down from the airy level his body had taken him to. He swallowed and squinted, the orange of the wall in front of him creating a fiery sort of blur... a blur... that was what it was like.

He felt out of tune with his life, like he was a mirror image wandering through with people and places just accepting him and not really paying attention. He'd laughed, sure. He'd smiled and played with Setsuna. He hadn't trapped himself indoors for three months, mourning.

_There's nothing to mourn_, Misaki told himself.

Then why did he feel so incarcerated?


	8. In Which They Wait

Chapter Eight ^.^

Please review : )

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><p><span>'In Which They Wait '<span>

Misaki

"Misaki! Your phone's ringing!" Sumi yelled over the sound of his gun-blasting videogame. Thinking it was Takahiro, Misaki wrapped a towel around his lower half and scooted from the bathroom to the living room. He looked for his mobile on the table but soon realised Sumi had it.

Pressed up against his ear.

"Yes, it's me. Well, where else did you expect him to go? No... really? It's a bit soon, don't you- Ok, ok, no need to get all testy. Hah. No, he's in the shower. I'll pass on the message."

Misaki blinked and Sumi. He really hated it when his friend did things like that.

"W-who was that?" Misaki asked as Sumi flipped the phone shut and slid it over the Misaki. Sumi reminded Misaki of a fox, sometimes; there was an element of the sly about him.

"That guy, you know... oh, what was his name?" Misaki knew Sumi was teasing him.

"Who was it!" Misaki barked, suddenly. He was in no mood to play Sumi's games now, not when he had a dreadful sensation coursing through his body. He knew who had called...

"Usami Akihiko. Rang to say he was looking forward to seeing you and Takahiro this afternoon."

"What?"

"Apparently Takahiro wanted to go and see Akihiko with you."

"W... why?"

"I don't know Misaki. Why don't you call Takahiro yourself?"

Misaki did so.

Akihiko

"Thank you," Akihiko said as the cleaner bowed and smiled from the elevator. She waved as the doors closed and Akihiko wandered into his now spotless apartment. The laundry had been done in the first time in months; he'd just bought new clothes when he'd run out. The dishes had been done, the surfaces wiped, the floors buffed, the whole place hoovered.

But it didn't smell right.

"Damn cleaners," Akihiko muttered before slapping himself on the forehead. _I sound like my father_. He surprised himself as he felt his sweaty palm on his head and wiped it down his newly ironed shirt. He gulped and took a deep breath, eyes focused on the plumped pillow on the pink sofa.

Taking his glasses out of pocket, he looked around the place.

_Maybe if Misaki saw this, he'd want to return. Maybe he felt used, here... like some sort of paid cleaner cum cook cum... gigolo? _

He slid his glasses on and sank into the sofa, picking up a manuscript his friend Kamijou Hiroki wanted him to look over. Red pen ready, he distracted himself.

Waiting for the doorbell.


	9. In Which They Are Nervous

Chapter Nine ^.^

Please review : )

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><p><span>'In Which They Are Nervous '<span>

Misaki

"Takahiro, are you sure you want to do this? You were so angry with him before-" Misaki muttered at his brother as they walked towards Akihiko's apartment.

"Oh, Misaki, please! It wasn't Akihiko's fault there was a dead body in the apartment!" _Er, yeah- his dead one-night-stand/stalker._ "From what you've said, you had a great time otherwise. Besides, I've known Akihiko for ten years! It would be very rude for me not to visit him on my stay."

"Ok... but don't stay too long, remember you're flying out tomorrow morning. Early doors!"

"Misaki, honestly! Why are you so nervous?"

"Nervous? Nervous! Me? No, no, no, no. I just-" Misaki was interrupted by his phone ringing. He reached inside his jacket pocket, got it and flipped it open.

"Setsuna?"

"Hi! I'm standing outside the address you gave me- where are you?"

"We're just coming to you now. You good?"

"Yup, excited to see you! Does Usami know I'm coming?"

"Err..." Misaki hung up as he saw Setsuna just five metres ahead. "Takahiro, is Manami coming?"

"No, she's out with a couple of her friends who live in Tokyo."

"Ah..." _Dammit- just me, Takahiro, Setsuna and... him... that won't be awkward at all. _In a stupid moment, Misaki had thought it a good idea to invite Setsuna. He thought she may be able to act as some sort of barrier. Why was he going with Takahiro in the first place?

1. If he backed out, Takahiro would be curious and back him into a corner with his obsessive interrogating.

2. If he let Takahiro and Akihiko be alone together, there was a chance that details would be revealed, details Misaki _definitely_ wanted to be forgotten.

3. He...

_I need to see how he is... no matter... everything... I need to see he's okay... like a... friend... after all, we went through so much..._

"We..." Misaki muttered to himself.

_"_Misaki-chan!" Misaki looked to the side, arms ready to catch Setsuna with a sort of contented resignation- what idiot would be annoyed at a girl leaping into his arms?

_Me. I'm an idiot. You haven't even kissed the girl yet._

Misaki kept still and laughed nervously as Setsuna pecked kisses all over his face and neck.

"Setsuna! I didn't know you were coming," Takahiro exclaimed, brushing his black hair off his forehead and adjusting his glasses. Setsuna slid off Misaki. _God... in all the mangas I've read, the guy always has a boner when a girl gets that close... is there something wrong with me? Should I go to the doctors?_

_"_Oh... is that a problem?" Setsuna asked, blushing as she tied back her long, jagged black hair. Her storm-grey eyes flickered in... sadness, was that?

"Not at all," Takahiro smiled.

Akihiko

_Ok, you've beeped them in. Pull yourself together. The Takahashi brothers are nothing to be afraid of! Honestly._

He took off his glasses and put them back on about six times after he heard the elevator doors ping open, then settled for having them off. Two voices... good, two- hold, on, three? A female voice... Aikawa?

Akihiko opened the front door before any of them had a chance to knock.

There, in front of him stood a smiling Takahiro, a blushing Misaki- who had suddenly found the woodwork of the door the most fascinating thing in the world and... and...

"Akihiko! Good to see you without a corpse in the living room!" Takahiro joked, stepping forward and embracing him. Akihiko instinctually hugged Takahiro back but his eyes were firmly trained on the slim, black-haired girl who was... holding... Misaki's hand...

Misaki

Takahiro pulled back and looked back to Misaki.

"Misaki, say hello at least," Takahiro prompted.

"H-hi," Misaki muttered. Setsuna gave him a questioning look. There was a silence, before...

"Ah, Misaki, so good to see you! How's college going? Did the exams go well? Who's this pretty, young thing?" There was no eagerness in Akihiko's voice. Just polite pleasantness.

It burned Misaki to the core.


	10. In Which There Is Vinegar

Last chapter for the night. Have any of you checked out the anime of Nakamura's new work? It's called Sekaiichi Hatsukoi and you can see it on animefreak. It's pretty good and one character is like Hiroki, Akihiko and Nowaki all rolled into one; warped, but awesome =D Hope you enjoy this chapter. I shall update my Junjou Drabbles tomorrow, as usual and hopefully get another chapter of this out : )

'In Which There Is Vinegar'

Akihiko

_Don't leap on him, don't leap on him, don't leap on him, don't leap on him-_

_"_Akihiko, you're spilling the tea!" Takahiro exclaimed.

"Ah, sorry. So, how are you?" Akihiko asked as he sat down, smiling profusely. He was alone on the pink sofa, whilst Takahiro, Misaki and that other creature sat opposite him. Misaki was sipping from his cup and staring around the flat like it was another planet and in truth, Akihiko saw his point. In the sparkling daylight, the apartment did look freakishly, squeakily clean.

"Good, good! It's been so long since I've been in Japan. Goodness, last time I saw you, my leg was just healing up! And that whole thing with that Tasaki guy! How did that blow over?"

"We just did what we needed to do, didn't we, Misaki?" Akihiko asked.

_Please let me hear your voice_. He watched Misaki freeze mid-sip then make a small, stiff nod.

"Yes, Misaki told me all about it," Takahiro intervened.

"Excuse me, but are you really the author of those novels? 'The Box That Houses The Moon' is one of my favourite books!"

Akihiko turned on the girl, who actually shrunk under his heavy gaze.

"I'm so happy you enjoyed it, Tuna," he said, cuttingly.

"Ahaha, Akihiko- it's Setsuna! Like that girl in that anime... oh, Misaki, what was it called? You used to watch it so much when you were younger," Takahiro said.

"Sailor Moon," Setsuna smiled, gulping and trying to regain her confidence. Akihiko blinked at her as though she wasn't there. Takahiro glanced at his friend curiously.

"Akihiko," was all Takahiro said, but it was enough to grab Akihiko's attention. Takahiro was warning him.

_Don't throw the tea pot at the girl. Don't throw her out of the windows. Don't trip her up. Don't tie her stupid, blue-starred shoelaces together. Behave_, Akihiko told himself.

There was silence. Horrible, deafening silence. The kind of quiet that settles in everyone's stomachs and makes them sweat to think of something, _anything_ to say. In all honesty, Akihiko didn't give a crap about Takahiro right now. He most definitely wanted to know how his long-time friend was. It wasn't that he didn't care or like Takahiro.

It was just that he cared and _loved_ Misaki so much more.

Takahiro began to talk to him about America and Akihiko settled for that for a few minutes, but his eyes rested on Misaki and that girl who were talking close together...like...like...

Akihiko heard the elevator doors ping and put his cup on the table. A second later, Aikawa came bursting through the door.

"Usami-sensei, where is my sex!"

Setsuna

The man was taller than she had imagined and his hair- though it looked grey on the dustcover of her copy of 'The Box That Holds The Moon'- was strikingly silver, contrasting with the deep, intense violet of his eyes. He was broad in the shoulders and chest and his legs were about the same length as his torso. He must have been at least six foot. But whenever he glanced her way- which was only about three times- he seemed about twenty feet high.

He was incredibly handsome but terrifying.

She had noticed that Misaki hadn't looked at the man once. Hadn't he stayed with Usami Akihiko for two years? Why the tension?

The silence in the room swung like a dead man in a noose and she scrambled around her mind to find something of logic or jest to say. Nothing. She couldn't even find a polite compliment to the house- it wasn't really her style. She preferred small and cosy.

She took a sip of her tea and then coughed, trying to stifle her chokes so as not to be rude.

"Something wrong with your tea?" Misaki instantly asked. That was one of the things she really liked about him- he was so attentive, so caring.

"N-no," she said aloud. Then, when Usami Akihiko and Misaki's brother had finally found something to talk about, she turned to Misaki. "I think Usami Akihiko put salt and pepper in my tea." She smacked her lips together subtly and then nodded. "And vinegar."

She watched, confused, as Misaki's eyelids dropped to nearly closing and his mouth formed into a straight line. He opened his mouth to say something when a loud bang resounded around the apartment.

"Usami-sensei, where is my sex!" came the exclamation from a redhead woman who came striding into the room. Her eyes were a bright green and her shirt barely concealed her lucky assets.

"Aikawa, can't you see I'm in the middle of-"

"Misaki-kun! It's been so long!" the redhead, assumably called Aikawa, suddenly squealed. Misaki turned to her and blushed.

"Aikawa, how are you?"

"How are _you! _Honestly, Misaki-kun. Do you know how painful it's been?"

Misaki

"How are _you_! Honestly, Misaki-kun! Do you know how painful it's been?"

_Oh shit. Aikawa, please don't say anything stu-_

_"_Do you know what torture it is for an author to have no muse! Akihiko hasn't written a sex scene in weeks! Without his inspiration, what-"

"Aikawa! Tea?" Akihiko interrupted. Misaki blinked as Akihiko reached to the table and got a cup for Aikawa. Relief washed through him. Akihiko looked down at Misaki.

It was the first time their eyes had met in three months and, in the oddest way, he felt his heart slow down as though he'd been racing up to this moment for ninety days straight.


	11. In Which There Are Memories

Chapter Eleven ^.^

Please review : )

Listened to Joshua Radin's 'Winter', Coldplay's 'What If' and Fink's 'This Is The Thing'. Would highly recommend you read this chapter with the latter song on repeat. Oh and Fink's 'Sort Of Revolution' and 'Move On Me'.

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><p><span>'In Which There Is The Simple Misery Of A HeartBroken Man'<span>

Misaki

The following events happened so quickly that Misaki barely had time to witness them.

"Takahiro, your car's being towed outside," Aikawa yelled and pointed a threatening finger at him, her eyebrow furrowed and lips pursed. Takahiro jumped and put his cup on the table, shouting back an apology and scooting out of the apartment. "You- what's your name?" Aikawa pointed a finger at Setsuna. She went right up to Setsuna's face and studied her deeply.

"E-er, Setsuna, nice to-"

"There's a stall downstairs with free sample of mascara. No lie." 'Except it is a lie' was all over Aikawa's face as she turned and beamed at Misaki.

"Wha-what-" Misaki began. But in seconds Setsuna was out of the room too and he had no one to direct his questions at except Aikawa and Akihiko. Literally a second later, Aikawa was out of the room too. Misaki shot up and charged to the door, trying to wrench it open. But he heard the twist of the lock. He gaped at the door as he heard Aikawa's laugh then the ping of elevator.

Misaki put both his hands on the door and hung his head, looking down at his converses. He heard a hush of clothes moving together behind him and his jaw dropped open as he began to breathe fast and quietly.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Akihiko was still sitting on the sofa, lighting a cigarette in his mouth and folding one leg over the other.

_So handsome_, Misaki couldn't help but think.

They remained in those positions for two minutes, wordlessly.

But there was already an argument brewing the air, making it soupy and hard to breathe.

Misaki gulped.

Akihiko

Akihiko took the last drag of his cigarette and watched the smoke die on the air. He didn't glance at Misaki, didn't say anything, didn't move a muscle.

_I'll wait for him to come to me. Lord knows it's always tormented him having me lolling all over him all the time._

_"_Do you..." Akihiko's head snapped up at Misaki's quiet words. He heard Misaki clear his throat as he turned round and looked down at his shoes some more. Akihiko tried to stifle an affectionate laugh- the kid just looked so goddamn cute.

_So... wonderful, really. If these are my last moments with him I'd be content._

_"_Do you have spare keys?" That was Misaki's question? Akihiko blinked and leaned forward, dropping his head and joining his hands together, elbows resting on his now parted knees. But he had to look up a moment later; after so long, he couldn't _not_ look at Misaki. He noticed that he'd changed his hair... a side-parting now instead of the usual mess, but still his hair stuck up in unusual places. Was that gel in there?

Misaki

"Don't scrutinise me like that!" Misaki suddenly barked.

"I wasn't scrutinising you," Akihiko said quietly. "I haven't seen you in months. When you live and sleep with someone for two years then spend an eighth of that time away from that person... it's natural to want to see the differences."

"I'm not any different," Misaki retorted. "It's you who's different- since when do you clean!" His arms outstretched on either side of him.

"I ordered a cleaner," Akihiko replied, voice still sober with sadness but a proud note in there somewhere too. Misaki's eyes were flecked with bottled anger and it only made Akihiko love him more. God he loved his passion, no matter how rarely he saw it outside of arguing.

Akihiko

"You... you can't order a cleaner! That's a person you're talking about, not ready-made sushi!" Akihiko sighed and smiled to himself, his eyebrows drawn together- this was so heartbreakingly beautiful, arguing with Misaki like this. He felt a gasp of oxygen actually pass over his heart, felt it pump instead of prod annoyingly at his chest.

Misaki seemed to realise the staggeringly exquisite brilliance of the moment too. This was, after all, the leitmotif of their relationship. It was how they cleared the air... it was their... their... foreplay, really. The foreplay before they expressed their love in the best way they knew how, the way Akihiko had taught Misaki. This was the depressed stand-up comic before the harrowing, tear-provoking drama of a Shakespeare love story. Because it wasn't just rampant, horny sex they had. Occasionally, more so really, they _made lov_e and washed themselves in one another, dazzled and blissed in each other's arms, warm by the arms of hot air that hugged them together.

Akihiko stared intensely into Misaki's eyes, begging him with the simple misery of a heartbroken man. Misaki's upper lip twitched and even Akihiko could feel the twinge in Misaki's eyes as he watched a glaze of tears form over those shards of green.

"Don't look at me like that," Misaki whispered, bottom lip trembling. Akihiko whacked his hand down on the table with sudden verve. He launched up from the sofa and in one stride was an inch from Misaki, looking down at him with red-hot, tragic vexation. He didn't touch Misaki, just let his body emanate his emotions. His chest swelled as his arms tensed and shoulder's broadened. He took a sniff of Misaki like he would a vintage of wine.

Misaki

_Trouble's what you're in_, Misaki thought to himself. His hands were in nail-digging fists. He could run now- he knew the way to the roof; he could make his way down the fire escape from there. Screw the conventional way.

But he couldn't. All he could do was stare with stupefied eyes at Akihiko's chest... he was wearing that blue shirt Misaki had ironed countless times, that navy waistcoat and dark sage-green tie.

He was taking shallow breaths and yet still he could smell that dark lavender scent, that liquorice smokiness merged with that underlying scent that always had Misaki in bits-

Camomile. So calming, so soothing. Just like Akihiko really, when Misaki let himself go to the man... which was painfully, stupidly rare.

So much changes in the space of a love-induced heartbeat.

Akihiko raised a hand to stroke Misaki's cheek, but instead stroked the air just by it.

"All you have to do is come back, Misaki. I'll work on whatever you want me to. You can sleep in your room every night, without me, if that makes you more comfortable."

Misaki blinked out his tears. They fell to the ground, not gracing his face; almost like the tears didn't think he was worth the selfish sadness he had impregnated into his relationship with the ambrosial man before him.

_He's a devil, Misaki! _Misaki yelled at himself.

"That's all you have to do, Misaki," Akihiko whispered into Misaki's hair. "Come back."

_But he was... my devil... my angel, really... Oh God..._

Misaki sniffed.

Around him, he sensed all the memories he'd had in this place. They charged around him and Akihiko in fast-forward. There he was with Akihiko at the first Christmas tree they'd bought, decorating it with chocolate coins and the new decorations they'd bought that day... Misaki had had to hold onto Akihiko's arm to dear life as they slid down the icy streets. He could still smell the cinnamon of that warming hot chocolate they'd shared.

There they were seriously discussing Akihiko's new novel at the table over dinner. There the sun rose as they spoke rapidly through the night. There they slept on the table. There they woke in the afternoon and lazily prepared breakfast. They'd done that at least ten times.

There he was throwing Akihiko's entire cigarette collection out of the window. There Akihiko was coming in the door with double the amount of cigarettes.

"Come back," Akihiko whispered.

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><p>Please review ^.^ I put a lot into this chapter and would love to hear what you think : )<p> 


	12. In Which There Are Games

Chapter Twelve ^.^

Please review : ) Apologies for very possible crapness, very tired .

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><p><span>'In Which There Are Games'<span>

Misaki

What hurt Misaki the most was that it appeared Akihiko was really quite fine without him. He didn't seem to ache quite as much as Misaki... the house was clean, the guy was shaven for Christ's sake!

"Come back," Akihiko whispered for about the twelfth time. Misaki felt his fists rising up to his chest as his frustration rose. What to do?

_Well_, came a voice in Misaki's voice. _It's quite obvious, really. You go back to the guy you love. Back to the guy you're truly yourself with and who you live to take care of, happily! You go back to the guy who kisses your face no matter the huge zit between your eyebrows, the guy who takes the time to listen to your woes and hold you all night without trying to hump you but then shag you in the morning because he knows... how it helps..._

"You... you know me," Misaki gasped quietly. The angst of the past three months, creepily absent seemed to rush at him all at once now. Akihiko's hands held onto the sides of Misaki's shoulders.

"As you know me. You know, I haven't eaten a decent meal for weeks."

"That's what you miss about me?" Misaki snapped, his head jerking upwards. A smile crept over Akihiko's colouring face.

"See now... I'd rather have you barking at me all day long than see those tears at my expense," he mumbled, putting a curled index finger under Misaki's chin. Misaki sniffed and tried to blink through his tears so that he could see Akihiko.

"I..."

"I love you, Misaki. Even if you never come back, I will _always_ love you. I'll be whatever you need me to be."

"Kiss me."

Akihiko

The words didn't quite connect with Akihiko for a moment. He felt his blood rush through his system like a rapid waterfall.

"Misa-"

"Kiss me," Misaki gasped, staring up at Akihiko. It didn't take another second for Akihiko to comply. Their lips met warmly and as they settled into the familiarity they had both so longed for, they both moaned. Misaki pulled back, but his hands were still tangled in Akihiko's hair. Akihiko's eyes were wild as he stared at Misaki. He tried to go in to kiss him further, but Misaki stopped him with a finger on his lips. "Why didn't you chase after me?"

"What?"

"When I... when I left. Why didn't you come?"

Akihiko blinked and swallowed, his eyebrows drawn together.

"I thought... you'd be happier where you wanted to be. I grabbed the car keys so many times... I knew exactly where you were, you're so brilliantly predictable sometimes." Akihiko continued to speak over Misaki's objections. "As long as you're where you want to be, Misaki... there's nothing I can do. You happy. That's all I need in this world... the endless sex: that's the best way I know how to show you just how _crazy _I am about you. You're the one who cut me back on smoking, who forced me to eat peppers... who played Scrabble with me, even though you're decidedly awful at English!"

"I am no-"

"And Lord knows how it turns me on how good you are at cards. I've never met anyone who I've enjoyed playing cards with."

"Akihi-ko..."

"God, don't say my name like that," Akihiko breathed out, heavily. He swallowed and stroked a line from behind Misaki's ear then down his neck. Misaki shivered. "Come back, Misaki."

"Idiot, I'm still here, aren't I!"

"Misaki, I lo-"

"You know, I think you should write this scene down now before you forget it, Usami-sensei," came Aikawa's voice from above them. They both jerked their heads up to see her standing on the hallway, circling keys in her fingers. She winked at Misaki. "You're not the only one who knows about the fire escape."

"I'll never forget this moment. Aikawa, than-" Akihiko began.

"Thank you," Misaki interrupted. Akihiko blinked and smiled at Misaki.

Then a black-haired head bobbed up to join Aikawa. Everyone's eyes turned on Setsuna blankly, each for different reasons.

"Finally," Setsuna smiled, leaning over the banister. "I was wondering how long you'd keep the 'straight' act up. You owe me money, Aikawa."

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><p>Please review ^.^<p> 


	13. In Which Akihiko Is A Woman

Chapter Thirteen.

I am EXTREMELY pissed off right now. Fanfiction just lost me this chapter; I pressed 'save' and it took me to a page saying I needed to sign in... WTF. I was so very happy with it and now it's gone. I'm going to try and replicate it. Please review, I hope it isn't bad now.

I listened to My Chemical Romance's 'Welcome To The Black Parade' and Dusty Springfield's 'Spooky', which I strongly recommend. Oh... I'm so sad it got lost : (

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><p><span>'In Which Akihiko Is A Woman'<span>

Misaki

"It appears there is a very interesting conversation to be had here but I _would_ strongly appreciate being alone with Misaki right now. I want to fu-" Akihiko started.

"Ahahaha, I'm just gonna go now-" Misaki began, moving towards the door. In one second he was pushed onto the sofa and in another Akihiko was straddling him, holding his wrists above his head. Aikawa and Setsuna laughed from above them and then came down the stairs and exited the apartment.

Akihiko leaned over him and sniffed behind Misaki's ear, biting down on the lobe slowly and deeply. Misaki shuddered, inadvertently raising his hips into Akihiko as heat streamed through his body from his shoulders to his feet.

"Eager, are we?" Akihiko whispered against Misaki's neck. Misaki tried to overcome the shivers that spun down his spine as Akihiko nibbled down his neck, stroking his tongue over the heating skin before pushing himself against Misaki.

"Ah!" Misaki cried, the spot especially sensitive as no one but himself had touched it in three months.

Akihiko began to kiss back up Misaki's neck and he let go of one of Misaki's wrists as he kissed over his throat. He kept hold of Misaki's other wrist as he stroked through Misaki's hair. He could feel the fast, furious pulse of Misaki's blood and he stroked over the veins, his groin tensing as he felt the blood run faster at _his_ command. Misaki's hand shot down to Akihiko's hair and scrunched it tightly.

"Aki-ko..." Misaki struggled to say, eyes squeezing shut whilst Akihiko nipped and licked just under Misaki's jaw.

"God, I love it when you say my name like that," Akihiko growled. His stroked his nose down the side of Misaki's neck, the hand in his hair stroking down the side of his body. Misaki exhaled through his mouth in a sort of panic before Akihiko suddenly bit Misaki's nipple over his t-shirt with merciless vehemence. A tension gripped his body and his neck almost went into cramp as he arched it back. He'd tried to fool Akihiko into believing he wasn't gay? Who the fuck did he think he was? A thought struck him as Akihiko lifted Misaki's t-shirt up to his neck with his teeth and began to settle gentle kisses over the tingling skin.

_What if it isn't to do with being gay or straight? What if it's just the one you love? If Akihiko were a woman, I'd-_

Akihiko

_"_PAH!" Misaki laughed outloud. Akihiko chuckled lowly.

"Ticklish?" he intimated against Misaki's hip.

"No, I was just imagining you as a woman," Misaki informed. Akihiko looked up at him.

"What, like, make-up and all?"

"Purple lipstick, long hair... silver dress."

"Wow, she sounds good."

"You're attracted to men!"

"I don't know, that lady seems _fine_."

"That's you!"

They both stared at each other for a moment, stunned.

_Misaki's home..._

Misaki

_I'm home..._

Akihiko suddenly pushed up against Misaki's body and his face was instantly in front of his. Misaki's legs parted instinctively so that Akihiko was right against him, as close as possible. Akihiko lowered himself gently and Misaki gulped. He felt Akihiko's hardness against him and began to feel a twist of nervousness coil around the adrenaline that was beating through him.

"You are back, aren't you?" Akihiko confirmed. Misaki blinked and nodded, wide-eyed as the nerves under his skin rushed to Akihiko's familiar, icy touch.

Akihiko kissed him and let go of Misaki's other wrist, running his tongue silkily over Misaki's. In a moment of sudden fervour, Misaki kissed Akihiko back. Both his hands snatched Akihiko's hair and held on tightly.

Akihiko

Akihiko stroked through Misaki's hair as he allowed the boy to take total lead of the kiss as Misaki sucked with his hot lips. He was slow but passionate and Akihiko couldn't help but groan, his eyes closed.

_God, did he always smell this good?_ Akihiko thought to himself. _Chocolate cookies and milk and honey..._

He smiled in Misaki's kiss as he felt Misaki's hands trail down his chest and in an instant his waistcoat was undone. He widened his shoulders so Misaki could easily slip it off but Misaki stopped. He opened his eyes slowly and saw Misaki looking down at his chest.

"That..."

"You can say anything you want, Misaki. Please don't hold back now." Akihiko watched as Misaki took a short, deep breath, closed his eyes and concentrated.

Misaki

"Y-You look good like that," Misaki stuttered. Akihiko's silver hair was mussed beyond a brush's avail and his eyes were- Misaki swore- a deeper purple than usual. His rumpled shirt hid the chest that Misaki had dreamed of and looked decidedly good under his undone waistcoat, either side of it hanging down in a rugged sort of fashion... if a waistcoat could be rugged.

He looked exactly like the dreamboat, womanising author you'd read about or see in a romantic drama.

_He could have anyone he chose... and he chooses me? _Misaki thought as he felt a twinge in his nose that warned of oncoming tears.

"I'm so sorry... that I... that I left," Misaki whispered, hands stroking into Akihiko's hair. He felt a rush buzz around Akihiko's body. Akihiko stroked Misaki's cheek.

"It's not your fault. We got into this so quickly and into a relationship that was years ahead of where we were. I was waiting for the moment you'd leave. Every day was a blessing. I began to believe in God as I fell in love with you."

Misaki swallowed as tears slipped down his cheeks and his bit his lower lip to stop from sobbing so hard. His knees tightened on Akihiko's hips and Akihiko exhaled through his mouth. Misaki could feel how hard Akihiko was restraining himself and it was that that pushed him to more tears, as pain and anger with himself sliced through his chest.

"But don't try and break my heart again," Akihiko continued. "Because if you do, I _will _lock you up."

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><p>I did it ^.^ I think some things are out of order, but still... Am I dedicated to this or what ^.~? Review if you'd like : )<p> 


	14. In Which Misaki Thinks

A very short chapter to build Misaki's character. I know Misaki's thinking isn't his strong suit, but still!

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><p><span>'In Which Misaki Thinks<span>'

Misaki

_Whilst Lying Awake At Sumi's A Week Before Going Back To Akihiko_

It's strange really. I don't think I've ever loved someone quite this much... I didn't think it was possible. I was with him for two years; I'm twenty now and yet I still feel eighteen. I still feel like the naive, stupid drunk who danced on top of his feet at that awards ceremony of whatever it was.

For a while, I was pissed because it felt like I was his... 'bitch' type thing. He'd write, I'd cook and clean and then... well, _that _would happen. But I have a strong feeling it's the other way around. One of the reasons I left is because I hated both being so beholden to someone. But, more so, I hated having that sort of power over another human. It felt wrong.

I didn't think I was up for the responsibility. I'm a coward, really... and Akihiko needs someone to step up and love him without shy excuses and stupid, teenage panic attacks.

I still feel eighteen... I feel like my life stopped and started when Akihiko- then Usami-sensei- spoke to me in that hallway. I've changed as a person... and yet my life feels paused.

Everything in my life froze but him... he was all I could train my eyes on...

Is that selfish?


	15. In Which Misaki Breathes

Chapter Fifteen.

Please review ^.^

Songs:

Moby- Porcelain

Nickelback- Should've Listened

Placebo- Running Up That Hill

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><p><span>'In Which Misaki Breathes'<span>

Akihiko

Coalescence comes with patience. And sweat.

Love is furtive when it comes to the coming together of two bodies; one minute, as nails dig into backs and heat burns on the skin, Lust is the commandant of the act. But without warning, Love rears its head and gives you one, complacent glance, a righteous smile on its heart-shaped face just as your partner calls your name or grips you as though he is falling, as though he is disappearing to another world and needs to take you with him.

Misaki's apogee came with my name gasped into a fevered kiss as our bodies ached together, strived and laboured towards our exquisite, vital release, stretching and constricting our limbs in our efforts. I responded with his name licked up his ear, the second of my acquittal joined with a bite on his lobe. My arms held his ever-so-slightly trembling body as I felt my shoulders shake with the tensity. Moans that could be mistaken for anguish met my ears with a rush of blood and sensation.

His entire body flopped afterwards, his whole weight trusted in my arms. I placed gentle, doting kisses onto his throat and raised my body lightly as I felt him take a deep inhalation. His fingers slipped round my ears and down my neck from my hair as his exhalation came in one, jittery breath.

I arched back on him, resting his body back on the sofa, wincing at the sensitivity brought in the aftermath of sex as I drew out of him. He twitched as nerves waved a sort of farewell to my presence.

Placing my head on his chest, I sighed in bliss, his fingers shaking as he stroked through my hair.

"Rest," I whispered between gentle pants, arms wrapped around his torso. I was careful not to hold on too tightly, knowing Misaki's weakness after making love... though there wasn't anything to make, it was just acting on the omnipresent love. Misaki swallowed and I rested my chest at the bottom of his ribcage, studying his glowing face, the signature of euphoria written over the lax skin. I felt his heart thudding beneath one of my hands as I moved it to stroke over his neck, shoulders and chest.

"_Oh,_" Misaki sort of whimpered, arm dropping over the side of the sofa in exhaustion as his other arm dropped over my back, light and heavy at the same time. I kissed the centre of his chest.

"I missed you."

Misaki

"I missed you."

Akihiko's voice seemed to come from a distance and though he said those three words simply, there was an affronting force that backed them up. His weight on my body filled the void that had plagued my lungs; he gave me back the scent that made oxygen go in and out with so much more ease. I'd never be able to put my feelings for him, the true ones that had broken through the shell of denial, in any poetic verse of prose. That was how Akihiko did it. All I could do was... what I loved best, really:

Take complete care of him. Complete... I would try and come full circle with my lover duties.

Lover.

Yes.


	16. In Which Misaki Is Apprised

Chapter Sixteen.

Please review ^.^

Songs:

Moby- Natural Blues

Nickelback- Photograph

Aretha Franklin- You're All I Need

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><p><span>'In Which Misaki Is Apprised'<span>

Akihiko

I woke up steadily, unhurried by the panic that had hammered me awake for the past three months. Ninety two mornings of anguish, soon numbed by alcohol.

But I couldn't do that now, not when Misaki was right here, _in my bed_. This wasn't just a fantasy because in my fantasies, Misaki was lying on me, not away from me, intractably on the other side of the bed. But he was there.

I stretched under the covers, pushed his an arm under the coolness of Misaki's pillows and tucked my other arm behind my head. Aside from the glow of glee that cast an aureola around Misaki and I, there was a shallower pride of manliness that flickered around me. The throes of rapture Misaki had endured on top of me, under me, beside me still glided through my head and I must admit I was stoned with the plenitude of the love that had passed between Misaki and I. Misaki had, somehow, unlocked something inside himself that had taught his body to torture mine with pleasure just as I did his. He didn't overthrow my role but had matured enough to have me groaning from first-hand pleasure and not solely from his reactions to my ministrations.

Bliss.

Suddenly, out of the blessed stillness, Misaki rolled over.

Onto me.

His head lazed on my shoulder, his hands tucked under his neck in agitation. I froze, not wanting to scare him away. The moment was so vulnerable to being pierced by one of my overzealous actions, so fragile. I did not want to shatter it.

"Baka, Akihiko... hug me or something," Misaki muttered against my skin. Tingles fluttered down my arm. My arm retracted from under the cool pillows and encircled his shoulders. Misaki sighed. I wept with joy inside.

I sensed Misaki's discomfort at being intimate and wet my lips to initiate a conversation, but Misaki beat me to it. What a revolution of jubilations.

"We should go on holiday some time soon."

"A nice thought..." I whispered into his hair, kissing his forehead. "But where?" I bit my lower lip hard to restrain myself from acting when Misaki gently lowered his palm onto my bare stomach. His little hand was so warm...

"I don't know... maybe, like, a biking holiday in France?"

Misaki

When Akihiko didn't respond to my suggestion, I looked up into his face. His bewitching eyes stared solidly into mine and, experimenting, I stroked my fingers gingerly up his torso. It felt godly to touch him, lie on him- I hadn't known the loss of his limbs had crippled me until we had flowed together as one... I hated the crappy sweetness he had imparted on my mind... but, Lord, I loved him. I did.

I watched as he gripped his inner lower lip with his teeth and felt the slight contraction of his hand against my back. Was he forbidding himself any response? Was I doing something wrong? I moved my hand away and his hand grabbed mine.

"No... just..."

"Akihiko?"

He placed my hand on his chest and I felt myself blush as his heartbeat tapped gladly against my palm. I cleared my throat.

"So... cycling in France?"

"I'll happily buy you a bike."

"I... " I realised Akihiko had reflected something... but what? "Wait, huh?" His face turned nervous. I was shocked. "Akihiko? Do you not like France?"

"No, I love France. Je t'aime Paris." He clenched his jaw, almost imperceptibly.

"Then, cycling? You don't enjoy cycling?"

He didn't say anything.

"Akihiko?" I arched my back downward and searched his face, momentarily aroused by the flex of muscles in his shoulder and pec. I was aware I was naked, too... but did not feel uncomfortable, just naturally squirmy at the feel of his silky skin against mine. "You can ride a bike, right?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Can you?"

"No."

I blinked and then tried to imagine Akihiko on a bike and strangely enough it didn't quite work.

"I'll teach you," I smiled.

"How would you balance me?"

"Since when have you been overly aware of your size?" I blushed as Akihiko smirked. Dammit, he was constantly aware of his _size_, sought consistently to flaunt it. I rephrased. "Since when are you wary of anything?"

"I don't want to talk about this," Akihiko stated, averting his gaze darkly to the door. I blinked twice.

"Akihiko, are you o-"

"Let's change the subject. Why did you leave?"

I felt my throat constrict but answered instantly. I admit I was thrown by Akihiko asking so suddenly, but I knew it had been coming and had prepared a phrase of truth.

"I thought it was p-profane to... love so much. Sinful."

Akihiko's body relaxed considerably. I hadn't known he was so tense. His eyes closed as he mulled what I'd said over in his mind. Then his eyes opened again and he looked at me, seemingly content.

"And now what do you feel?"

I took both my hands off his body and began to pick at the dead skin around my index finger, looking down at it.

"Look at me," Akihiko ordered. I did. I bit my lip and closed my eyes.

"Like there's nothing else right in this world but this and as long as I'm with you, everything's right and safe and-" Akihiko interrupted me with a soft, swift kiss.

"Then you get it," he apprised. He continued abruptly. "The last image I have of my mother is her riding away on a bicycle. It was red, with a straw basket on the front. She had taken one of my bears and one of my brother's books on birds. They sat it in the basket. It was a summer evening, the sky was peach and magenta and she rode down the hill, waving and smiling. She said she was going to the Fish market. She... she didn't come back after that."

The room became static with Akihiko's tale. I watched as he cried, not on the outside; the tears ran fluidly behind his eyes and shook through his body. I was unsure of what to do for several seconds but then my body acted of its own accord. My arms wrapped around his neck as I kissed his cheek deeply. His arms embraced me.

We were whole.

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><p>Please Review! I've taken an oath to review everything I read because I know how much every review helps me!<p> 


	17. In Which There Are Animals

Chapter 17 ^.^ Please review if you do read : )

Songs:

Wisemen- James Blunt

Unchain My Heart- Joe Cocker

Honey- Moby

Lion's Mouth- Rebecca St. James

Wuthering Heights- Kate Bush

Man Machine- Robbie Williams

Torn- Natalie Imbruglia

The Letter- Macy Gray

Kingdom Dance- Alan Menken

My Sweet Prince- Placebo

Runaway Love- En Vogue

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><p><span>'In Which There Are Animals<span>'

Misaki

I woke up to the feel of milky softness under my fingers. It took me a moment to realise where I was and to discern that this was no imagining:

I was in Akihiko's bed. I was in his room.

The man was sleeping, his pale, bare chest rising and falling subtly with the hushed peaceful breaths of a contented man. Beneath my fingertips. I'm not sure all contented men sleep like this, but I knew Akihiko was content from the unique calmness in his face. Most of the time, I would catch him sleeping with his eyebrows furrowed and hands partially clenched. But today one hand was crossed over his chest whilst the other arm lay motionless next to him aside from a few sudden twitches.

I observed his eyelashes and smoothed over both of his eyebrows. I studied the almost invisible stubble, running my fingers gently over the prickles.

It is hard to look at Akihiko and not believe you are dreaming.

Silently as I could, I slipped under the covers and sat on the edge of the bed, hiking up the boxers that were on the floor. I did not want to wake Akihiko- Lord knows how little he must have slept in these past months. I felt wretched. He could have sent me packing, could have pushed me away at my immaturity and flight-risk. But his love for me seemed to have pullulated, grown stems and blossomed immeasurably. I was blessed.

I crept out of the door and went down the stairs, struck by the stinging beauty of being in the condo, about to embark on a morning routine. The morning cast a pale blue light through the wall-windows on the left side of the first floor of the apartment. The sofa cushions were still in incomprehensible places around the living room- Akihiko had surprising strength when he tried to restrain himself with me... but other objects would feel his fortitude.

I was standing by the hob, yawning and scratching my head as I waited for the coffee to boil, when the doorbell rang. It broke the peace the condo had fallen into and shattered the atmosphere of Akihiko's and my little microcosm. I was instantly hacked off. I turned to the cafetiere and tried to pretend nothing had happened. The coffee boiled, I poured the drink into two glass cups and added two sugars to mine and a dollop of Greek honey to Akihiko's.

The bell rang again.

I huffed and puffed and walked to the video phone by the door. Upon pressing the 'answer' button, I was surprised to see Aikawa's cheerful face smiling at me. Even in black and white her hair was redder than a tomato. I pressed the 'allow' button and Aikawa came in. I opened the door so she could enter without me having to interrupt preparations for breakfast on her account. She bustled in half a minute later.

"Misaki! You look fitfully ruffled!" she squealed, plonking herself down on the sofa. I must admit I wanted to push her out there and then but when I realised it was her meddling that brought Akihiko and I back together, I abjured from my urges.

"Coffee, Aikawa?"

"Please," she smiled, bringing out a pink box form behind her back. "I bought you some peach doughnuts!" This sparked my interest considerably. I had rummaged through Akihiko's cupboards and found no breakfast food to speak of.

"Oh, thank you! Will you join us for breakfast?"

"I would love to. Where is the beast? Still slumbering?"

"Ahaha, yes. I think he should be down in a second," I muttered, slightly hunched as I walked over the a pillow on the floor, lifted it and retrieved my t-shirt. I got it on in less than two seconds. Aikawa studied the room and then beamed at me. I smiled, turned and grimaced as I stirred the three coffees.

"Misaki?" came Akihiko's voice from the bedroom. Aikawa and I froze; his voice was filled with such worry, such panic. "Misaki..." the lamentation slit my heart. My lips parted. How many times had Akihiko woken up this way? I swallowed and tried to gather myself.

"I-In the kitchen," I called to him, joyfully as I could. I sent a polite smile to Aikawa before practically racing to the stairs and hurrying up them. When I got to the bedroom, I saw Akihiko sitting up in bed, his eyelids still heavy from sleeping, his blinking slow. He looked up from the covers, saw me and his eyes widened a little. I walked over to him and sat on the bed in front of him. "Morning."

Akihiko didn't respond. I watched his breathing go in time with his heart-rate. I put a hand on his shoulder and his eyes closed. We were still for several seconds before he grumbled something about being starving.

"I'm not surprised," I griped at him, retracting my hand. I folded my arms. "Do you not know how to cook at all? Or call take-away? Where's the food in this place?"

"I ate f-"

"Don't lie to me! Get your butt downstairs before I kick it down there." I went back downstairs. Akihiko followed me instantly. I threw him a pair of black trousers and he put them on dazedly as he grabbed Suzuki-san- that child-sized bear- and followed me like some oversized duckling. I risked a glance at his undeniably lithe, sexy figure. As we got downstairs, I chucked him a shirt that was strewn over the banisters. He shrugged into it. I did up the buttons.

In a matter of minutes we were all sitting around the table. I kept a watchful eye on Akihiko to make sure he was awake enough to know I was here and this wasn't a dream... or nightmare.

"So! Gained enough inspiration yet, Usami-sensei?"

Akihiko took a slurp of his coffee and let out a little yawn.

"Aikawa, I will get that manuscript to-"

"Cancel it. I want a new one. The lovers rejoined."

Akihiko swallowed his coffee and put it on the table. I blushed and lowered my head.

"If you dare-" I began to murmur to him. From next to me on the sofa, Akihiko interrupted me.

"Fine. Good idea."

"Excellent," Aikawa exclaimed.

"Where is it set?" Akihiko asked.

"I was thinking a zoo... we haven't done a zoo before..."

"Interesting. Characters?"

"Strong seme, unyielding uke."

I glowered at the floor.

"The zoo scene gives us scope to bring some animalism into it, I suppose," Akihiko surmised, leaning back and folding his legs. I averted my pointed gaze at each corner of the room, gripping my coffee glass.

"Ahaha! Cute idea! Hey, Misaki, what kind of animal do you think Usami-sensei is?"

"Huh?" I looked in surprise at Aikawa.

"When you compare Akihiko to an animal, what do you think of?"

Akihiko breathed in deeply, preparing himself for my answer.

"A cock," I said instantly. Akihiko raised his finger, ready to exude some vulgar witticism. I shot him a glare and jammed a doughnut in his mouth. He swallowed it with no trouble, smirked and licked his lower lip. What he was trying to prove I had no idea, but I'm fairly sure it was something sexual. I shoved another three into his mouth with ninja speed. He took a while to chew on those ones. "_Rel_," I finished. "A cockerel."

"Elaborate..." Aikawa requested, leaning forward and squinting at me in interest.

"Err..." I blushed. Well, fieriness, pride, territoriality and dominating came to mind... Akihiko finished munching the doughnuts.

"Well, they're proud, strong creatures. No doubt Misaki was referencing the-"

"Sheer stupidity they display," I finished for him. "But seriously? I don't think there is an animal to equate to Akihiko... he's an animal in himself." Aikawa laughed and nodded. Akihiko clenched his jaw and smirked, trying to work out whether I was complimenting or offending him. He chose the former and leaned forward to give me a kiss on the cheek. My first reaction was to flinch away- I had settled into the routine of Akihiko and I so quickly. But I stopped myself. His lips met my cheek and I inhaled, trying to keep myself calm. Then a voice skewered my insecurities. _Who cares if someone else is here? You're in a relationship. Do your half._ I turned my head and caught Akihiko's lips with mine in a fleeting peck. I felt his shock flit through him and watched his hands turn to light fists. I leaned in again and landed a softer, slightly longer kiss. God this felt good...

Then Aikawa's presence truly hit me. I pulled back and looked at where Aikawa was sitting. But she had gone. I hadn't noticed her leave. From that moment, I was eternally grateful to her.

"You don't have to force yourself," Akihiko whispered. I knew he was speaking bullshit. He wanted me to force myself to my limit. I wasn't quite there yet.

I let Akihiko take care of me instead. Again. His tongue twisted around mine, hand on my turned neck as his other hand rested on my knee. I hummed a sort of protest and stood up. Surprisingly, he let me go.

I walked over to the kitchen with the empty coffee cups. He followed me with the mien of a highly aroused, determined predator. Steady... strong...Cockerel? Who was I kidding? He was a bloody jungle cat.

I put the cups in the sink and turned to walk back to the living room. Akihiko was right in front of me, my eyes at chest-level. I swallowed and breathed shakily. I backed int the counter. Whatever Akihiko was emanating, it was controlling me. I had gone from momentarily light-headed to cornered and slightly afraid.

"Get up on the counter," Akihiko ordered. I swallowed and let out a nervous laugh.

"I need to shower, Akihiko. Let me-" He pushed his body against mine. I was sandwiched between his wash-board stomach and the wooden counter. What choice did I have?

* * *

><p>Please review! I have vowed to review everything I read as I know every review helps me ^.^<p> 


	18. In Which They Commence

Chapter Eighteen.

Please review ^.^

* * *

><p><span>'In Which They Commence'<span>

Misaki

Akihiko's hands were frantic as they tried to shove off my clothes.

I was stuck on the counter now, no match for Akihiko's revived strength. He was like a teenager; his libido permeated through the pores of his fingers and burnt my tingling skin. His lips hadn't touched me yet... not in four minutes. Only his dextrous, frenzied fingers.

"Akihiko..." his name slipped from my lips, natural and instinctive. He paused and his hurried breath caressed my bare shoulder and neck. I shivered.

"Misaki... you're still here..." Silence. "Right? I'm not dreaming this?" His fingers left me and I felt a snowy chill pass under my skin.

"I'm here," I whispered, too pained to speak any louder; look at what I had done to this man. What sin had I committed? There is no name for peccancy so flagitious. In my selfish naivety, I had abnegated the truest vice of all and denied a man his due laurels- Akihiko had suffered undeserved cruelties in his life. What demon was I to add insult to the injury of his past? Though my t-shirt was still on, along with my shorts and socks, I was as naked as I had been at birth... was this a rebirth? A second chance?

Akihiko's finger touched my lower lip and his eyes studied my mouth ravenously. His eyebrows were knitted together in that characteristic fashion of his and every now and then his nostrils flared as he further denied himself.

"It was a crime to leave you... I... there is no apology high enough I can offer you that shall acquit what I have done to you." I begged that I had used the correct words: my Japanese was average, nowhere near the poetic prowess of Akihiko's. Akihiko's head turned the barest millimetre.

"No. This is both our faults." My hands had somehow found their way to his chest and for an incalculable time we remained frozen in our own little snow-dome, the world showering down around us but him and I frozen. His heart beat was powerful and erratic beneath my palm.

Akihiko

There was nothing, _no thing_, I could do. I felt like any action would make my mountain of turpitude higher; if I moved but an inch, the peak would be too high for me to reach and there would be no more hope of repentance. Was I truly so vile a voyeur? I hadn't thought of age when I had coveted Misaki. Our souls were like two halves of a photograph, once ripped in malice by some angel in a temper tantrum. We had floated to one another, bound the adhesive of love around our wounds- the abandonment both of families had performed, in different ways.

Misaki's breath stroked over my finger as I left it there on his drying lower lip. There was a bit of dry skin at the very corner of his mouth. Dare I pluck it off? Would it bleed? Would I taste?

The weight of Misaki's hands on my chest, right over my heart, grew heavier by the second. Then the weight was gone.

I flinched and looked down to see Misaki's delicate fingers shake as they undid the first two buttons of my shirt. buttons he had done up but ten minutes before. I swallowed. Then his icy touch was on my skin, gliding over to my heart. He placed his palms, sweaty and cold all at once, in a diamond around my heart, then leaned down. My finger dropped from his lip. He kissed the encircled pulse.

"I do not know the rent of such a prodigious place or even if there is room, but I wish to reside here," Misaki whispered over his kiss. My heart had stopped. My breath caught in my throat. I didn't pay attention to the misuse of several of the words he had spoken. "If I am worthy."

My hands caught his face and I gently brought it upward so that I might procure a look into those ensnaring eyes. I kissed him like rain kisses a flower, like the wind caresses the dunes of the desert, brushing back layers to reach the new landscape. His hands fettered my wrists and at length, his ankles locked around my lower back. My heart heaved as I drew him closer to me, so close that there was a chance that he might fall off the counter. But my body was a barricade to the danger, as I hoped it always would be.

I could no longer contain my passion and in my longing- sinful lust, what cruel games you play- I left red lines down Misaki's arms and chest, legs and stomach as I took off the clothes that obscured my somatic haven. Lust had altered me blind and I was forced to see with my fingers and tongue, to taste the salty plains and sweet dips. Within minutes he was shivering uncontrollably, almost truly naked as his hands began to combat the shirt and trousers he had thrown at me what felt like hours ago. A band of heat gripped under my ribcage as I was made penultimately vulnerable. Asmodeus had momentarily taken me as an earthly slave and I relished the hallowed sin. My hunger knew no bounds.

Misaki

We were only in our boxers, intoxicating warmth and duping emotions tangling our nerves irreversibly. Every tendon and muscle in my body was knotted, tense as a beautiful adulteration of dread and aphrodisia roped Akihiko and I together. I had never felt more alive. I was disabled for a few, panting moments as Akihiko threw me to an unseeable edge, oblivion charring my fingertips with its visceral soot.

I must have blacked out for a minute or two but woke up to the writhing muscularity of Akihiko's body as he blessed my skin- torso, shoulders, neck, chest, thighs- with ecstatic, tortuous encomiums, the carnalities of which cannot be demoted to such words as 'kiss', 'lick' and 'bite'; these were unspeakable, indescribable combinations.

My fingers, tackling with a bewildering formication, slipped down Akihiko's chest as I sucked his lip raw. I tasted blood but was not startled, so drugged was I by this exploit and in a second I realised that whilst I had switched off, our boxers had disappeared; I could only assume they had evaporated, literally.

A stentorian groan rocked my body as some appendage of Akihiko's thrust into me, hard. All my diffidence had been blasted.

His fingers left me and were replaced with something intimidating, intimate and illustrative of Akihiko's primal blessings... all poetic language aside: Akihiko had a great dick.

"You're blushing," Akihiko growled as he gnawed at my neck. I was wracked with laughter as I nodded and hugged his neck. Akihiko drew back and gazed into my eyes. Anyone who saw us then would think we were on opium, with how stoned we looked. He began to laugh too. "You usually blush a lot sooner."

"_Ah!_" Akihiko passed over a very sensitive spot inside me. He doctored my skin softly, practically liquifying me.

"Why are you blushing?" he recommenced.

"I thought of..." Shyness strangled me.

"Go on," Akihiko encouraged, hands at my hips as he adjusted both of us comfortably. I shook my head against his shoulder and wrapped my arms around his broad back. My arms periodically pulled away from one another as Akihiko breathed. He began to roll his hips and he staggered on his feet as I tightened around him. He chuckled and looked at my face. "There it is again... such a quiescent blush. What thought woke it up?"

There was no way in hell I was going to say that the thought of his dick had made me blush. I bit his chest as a distraction. It worked. It provoked him to pummel me gradually until my limbs were puppeteered at his command. I managed to elicit some shocked groans from him, though, as I acted out the fantasies I had had. Dominating him turned out to be a lot of fun and I soon learnt that Akihiko liked... _pattern_.

I laughed quietly into his ear as his arm shot out to the cabinet behind me to steady himself.

"Struggling?" I teased. I relaxed myself and he sighed in a sort of relief. He actually took a moment to gather himself, his other hand splayed between my shoulderblades. We were both potential seconds away from our climaxes.

"Tighten again," he snarled. I couldn't help but beam, proud with myself. I scratched lightly down his chest and rewrapped my arms around his back, tightly. "Not like that. Don't act ignorant..." he panted.

"Ignorantly, isn't it? Isn't that the correct use of the- _AH!_" I bit my lip extremely hard as Akihiko dished out a little revenge, thumb and finger ready again at my chest.

"_Again_," he threatened. For a moment, I thought I might be too tired to use muscles I hadn't exercised in months. Aside from when I had last been with Akihiko, those muscles simply hadn't been moved in this way. Never before had I employed them so forcefully or skilfully before. I was utterly delighted with my discovery.

I contracted. Akihiko's hand turned into a fist on my back, nails digging in mercilessly. My moan was unheard, my voicebox incapable of such a peak.

Suddenly, Akihiko's hand shot around and slammed at my collarbone. My head almost hit the cabinet. I gasped and was breath-stricken for a couple of seconds as Akihiko's harsh glare hit me. He thrusted with a vengeful sort of strength. It wasn't painful at all. His thrusts came every three seconds as his glare softened. He came forward and kissed me so softly I thought I might cry. I knew exactly what he was doing.

He was telling me, without words, that I was his. He was rightfully marking his territory.

I struggled as I combatted the thought that he thought he was of a higher status than me, that I was a slave of some sort, leashed. But I soon relaxed; his kiss told me all I needed to know. As well as telling me that I was his, he was assuring himself that he was strong enough to protect me, fend and provide for me.

I stroked softly down his back, mouth on his shoulder as he hit me with juxtaposing force. He kissed my shoulder in gratitude for my understanding.


End file.
